Cardinal of Naples Target of Probe

As Italian magistrates continue a wide-ranging investigation into public works contracts and suspected kickbacks, they have informed Cardinal Crescenzio Sepe of Naples that he is a subject of the investigation. The investigators are looking at contracts Cardinal Sepe made with government officials while he was head of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples from 2001 to 2006. Italian newspapers speculated that the cardinal sold property below market value to a government minister, who then allocated public funds for work on the Vatican building housing the congregation. There are also questions about how the cardinal helped a government official—now under investigation—find an apartment. In Naples on June 21 Cardinal Sepe said, “I always did everything with maximum transparency.... I always acted in accordance with my conscience, having the good of the church as my only objective.”